Beautiful You
by misscatherine87
Summary: "It's funny, when your dreams come true, it's never in the way you want." Criminal Minds fan-fiction starring Spencer Reid and Jennifer Jareau  my favorite CM 'couple'
1. Chapter 1

**Beautiful You**

_This is a Criminal Minds fan fiction story starring Dr. Spencer Reid and Agent Jennifer "JJ" Jareau. The other members of the BAU team will be present, but are not crucial to the overall story._

**Chapter One**

The BAU bullpen was completely pitch black. It was almost ten o'clock at night, and everyone had already gone home. Only Dr. Spencer Reid remained, his eyes darting over the words on the case file in front of him for the tenth time. There had to be something he was missing. His intelligence had never failed him before, but the preliminary profile he had formed seemed too straight forward. There had to be something else at play here. Nothing was this cut and dry. Cases involving children were always hard to cope with, especially when the violence towards the victims was this extreme, but they were flying out first thing in the morning, and Spencer refused to go home until he felt confident with his profile of the killer.

The girls that had been abducted and then killed in Boston, Massachusetts were between the ages of seven and nine. All three of them were brunettes, had blue eyes, and lived in single parent homes. They were abducted from their after school extracurricular activities while waiting to be picked up by their nannies. They had been held for two days, during which they were sexually abused, tortured, and then finally killed by a fatal stab directly to their hearts. Their bodies were then dismembered and tossed in playground sandboxes less than a mile from their abduction sites.

His instincts told him that there were two unsubs, a man/woman team, maybe a husband and wife, who had lost their young daughter (who the father had been secretly sexually abusing) in a similar way and were reliving the event over and over again. Maybe the woman could no longer conceive a child, and the man needed a child that looked like his daughter to continue with his desires.

But it just seemed too simple, and it was starting to give Spencer a headache.

A half an hour later, he gave up. He refused to look at the violence anymore. It would probably give him a nightmare tonight. Child abuse cases this severe always gave him nightmares. He gathered up his things, shoved them deep inside his leather messenger bag, and headed out. But he saw a light on out of the corner of his left eye and it caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

He had originally thought that he was the only one still in the office, but he should have known better than to think that she would be gone. Will had taken Henry down to New Orleans, so she had nothing pulling her home. Spencer knew how hard she was taking their separation, especially since Will was putting their son in the middle of every argument, but JJ was strong. She wouldn't let the pain she was feeling in her heart affect her work. He had always admired that about her, among many other things that he was always too embarrassed to admit.

She had worn a pair of dark jeans to the office today, the ones that so tightly wrapped around her curves that it left absolutely nothing to the imagination. When he made it to her doorway, she was standing with her back to him, and his eyes slowly drifted down to the spot where the hem of her crimson shirt hit the denim of the jeans. He knew he shouldn't be looking at her this way, because they were friends, and friends didn't look at each other the way he looked at JJ, but he couldn't help it. She was beautiful, and he wondered if she knew it.

"Long night?" he said out loud, but instantly regretted it as he watched JJ jump a mile up in the air. When she turned to look at him, the only thing he saw was her eyes; normally blue and vibrant, they were now red, bloodshot, and puffy. She had been crying.

"Spence, hey," she said, wiping under her nose with the back of her hand. "What a nice surprise. I thought I was the only one still here."

"That's funny," he said back, stepping over the threshold, "because I thought the exact same thing."

"This case we have tomorrow in Boston is pretty gruesome, huh?" JJ said as she walked over to him. "I hate cases that involve kids."

"That's because you're a mother and you can't help but personally feel the pain that the parents are going through because you can actually put yourself in their shoes," Reid said.

"Oh," was all JJ could say back.

"Not that that's a bad thing," he quickly countered. "I'm just saying, there's a good explanation as to why you're feeling that way. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"You didn't," she said to him, "not in the least bit."

"Well that's good to know."

"You're probably wondering about…" she said as she motioned towards her face. Now that she was closer to him, Spencer could see black lines of makeup falling down her cheeks. He reached out with his thumb and wiped away one of them. "I must look like a complete mess…"

_Actually, you've never looked more beautiful_, Spencer said to himself, but he didn't dare say it out loud. He knew she didn't feel the same way about him that he felt about her, and he had been doing a damn good job for the last six years of keeping his emotions to himself.

So he settled with simply saying, "You look fine."

"Thanks Spence."

"Why don't you go home and get some sleep? We've got an early flight tomorrow."

"I've still got a ton of things to do," she said. "I don't see myself going home any time soon. But that's okay, part of the job, right?"

She waved at him and turned around, heading back to the file cabinet she had been standing beside when he first got there. But Spencer could see how tired she was, and there was no way he was going to leave the BAU without her. He grabbed the strap of his bag and lifted it over his head, placing the leather accessory on the floor beside the door. "What can I do to help you?"

"No, Spence, that's not necessary," she said. "I wouldn't even know how to start explaining it all to you…"

"Well then I'll just sit here and keep you company," he said, sitting behind her desk.

"Spence…"

"I'm not leaving knowing that you'll be here by yourself. Not a chance, JJ."

So he sat there in her office, watching her go through and sort files for another hour and a half. At times he found his eyes growing heavy, but he forced himself to stay awake. He focused on watching her do her thing: the way she tucked her blonde hair behind her ear as she read over documents, the way she rolled back onto the heels of her shoes and her butt stuck out just enough for his pulse to quicken, the way she snuck glances at him when she thought he wasn't looking at her. And when she did see him looking at her, she smiled the most adorable smile, where she crinkled up her nose and pursed her lips together. And what beautiful lips they were…

"Okay, I can't keep my eyes open anymore," he finally heard her say around one-thirty. "What do you say we get out of here?"

"Sounds good to me," he said. He picked up his bag from the floor and, after she closed the office door behind them and locked it, the two of them headed towards the elevator.

"Thank you for staying with me, Spence," JJ said as the metal doors shut in front of them and the elevator began to lower towards the lobby. "You were great company."

"I was happy to oblige," he laughed. "You're not so bad yourself."

"Listen, why don't you just come and crash at my place? Your house is so far away, and I only live ten minutes from here…"

"No, I couldn't put you out like that…"

"Spence, I insist!" she said, reaching out and grabbing his hand. Her smile dropped, and Spencer had a strange suspicion that she might start crying again when her bottom lip began to shiver. "I can't be in that house alone for another night. I need…I need someone to stay with me…"

"Okay, okay I'll stay there," he said. She surprised him by collapsing into his body, and he slowly wrapped his arms around her to comfort his friend. "You do know that crying women make me extremely uncomfortable, right?"

"Why did he leave me, Spence? Was I not enough for him? I thought he loved me…"

"Shhh, it's okay," he said, stroking her hair. "Trust me, I ask myself the same thing every day. If I were him, and you were my girlfriend…fiancée…whatever you guys were…I wouldn't ever let you go."

He regretted it the minute he said it, because he knew that, if she read between the lines enough, she would discover that he had just admitted his feelings for her. His pulse raced and he could feel sweat collecting in the palms of his hands, but he tried to ignore them by holding on to JJ even tighter.

When minutes went by without her mentioning it, he thought he was out of the clear; that she hadn't heard his words they way he thought they had come off. They reached her car, and he opened the passenger door, planning to climb in, but found a set of keys dangling in front of his face instead.

"Do you mind driving? I'm just so tired…"

"No problem," he said, even though he was tired too. He helped her into the passenger seat, and then hurried over to the driver's side. He had only been to JJ's home once, six years ago when they had gone on a date to a Washington Redskins game, but he still remembered how to get there like it had been yesterday. He hadn't liked football then, and he really didn't like it much more now, but he went and sat through it because he knew she liked it. And he honestly had had so much fun that day.

So he wondered, after all these years, why there hadn't been a second date? Maybe one day he'd have the courage to ask her, but not tonight. No, tonight was about getting JJ home and getting her into bed.

Getting her into bed to sleep.

Getting her into bed to sleep alone.

Getting her into bed to sleep alone without him.

Getting her into bed to sleep alone without him because he'll be on the couch.

His brain went through this in about five seconds, before he had even turned the ignition. He had to remind himself that he was staying at her house solely because she did not want to be alone, not because she wanted him on a romantic level. Although with what was going on in her romantic life right now, which had been at the core of her breakdown in the elevator, he was surprised she hadn't made any kind of sexual act towards him. Surprised, but happy, because he knew that if she did anything remotely sexual to him, even something as small as kiss him, he wouldn't be able to contain the reaction his body would have to it.

A little over ten minutes later, Spencer pulled up to JJ's home and parked in her reserved spot. It was a small, but extremely quaint, three floor town house in the heart of DC, with brick on the outside and black painted shutters on the windows. JJ had planted flowers in boxes underneath the two windows flanking the black front door. A small bicycle was sitting on the porch, which must belong to Henry, her six year old son and his godson.

"We're here," he whispered to JJ, nudging her shoulder a tad. She had fallen asleep almost immediately after he began driving. She moaned, obviously disgruntled in the fact that she had to wake up. "Do you want me to carry you in?"

"No, that's okay, I can do it," she said, opening the door and sinking out onto the sidewalk. They walked up the stairs together and, after JJ unlocked the door, entered the home.

The main foyer was as far as Spencer had gotten six years ago, and it did look surprising different than it had then, but only in the sense that there were toys scattered around the hardwood floors that were a four year old's dream. Pictures hung on the wall to his left of his head of the whole Jareau-LaMontagne family, but Spencer noticed that only one of the pictures contained all three members. It had been professionally done, he noticed, but recently. He winced when he saw JJ's smile in the photo, because it seemed so forced, so unnatural. She was uncomfortable being that close to Will.

"I'll show you to where you can crash for the night," he heard JJ say, and soon her blonde hair was passing by him and heading up a set of stairs on his right.

"I can just sleep on the couch," he said, pointing behind him to the living room and what looked like a very comfortable piece of furniture; one he was sure he'd have no problem falling asleep on.

"Nonsense," JJ said. "We have a perfectly good guest bedroom up here. You'll have your own bathroom in the morning so you can take a shower before we leave." He didn't argue further, knowing he wouldn't win. JJ was already halfway down the hall when he reached the top of the stairs, standing in front of an open door. "I just changed the sheets four days ago, after Will left. He's been sleeping in here until he can find a place. I can probably go grab you a pair of his sleep pants if you'd like. I don't know what you like to sleep in…"

"JJ, I'm fine. You've done more than enough by letting me stay here. Go to bed, I'll be fine." He placed a light kiss on her forehead, focusing on the words of a Lord Byron poem to distract him from moving his lips to any other parts of her body.

_One shade the more, one ray the less/ Had half impair'd the nameless grace/ Which waves in every raven tress/ Or softly lightens o'er her face/ Where thoughts serenely sweet express/ How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.__1_

"Good night, Spence," JJ whispered in his ear, returning his kiss with one of her own on his cheek. He noticed how dangerously close she had placed her lips to his, and how it seemed to be on purpose. He closed his eyes as he felt her pull away, but he knew she was still there. It took him a good fifteen seconds to open his eyes, and sure enough, he was looking right into her hazel eyes. They were screaming at him to kiss her.

"JJ…" he started, but that was it. That was all he could get out before JJ wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

1 Excerpt from "She Walks in Beauty", by Lord Byron (1788-1824)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Spencer shocked himself as he felt his entire body go rigid as JJ kissed him. He never thought in a million years that, when he finally was able to kiss her, he would feel any sort of hesitation to it. JJ was the girl he had always wanted to be with. There way no denying that fact whatsoever. But he was hesitant, because he knew what JJ was going through, and he knew her head wasn't in the right place. She was hurting so much over Will, and she was using him to try and ease her pain.

"No…JJ…stop…" he forced himself to say, pulling away from her. "We can't do this…"

"Why not?" she asked.

"You know why," he said back. "You are clearly in your own head right now, so messed up with your separation from Will…"

"You're absolutely bat shit crazy if you think I'm doing this because I'm sad about Will, Spence. Do you want to know the real story? Yes, Will walked out on me, but he did it after I told him that I didn't want to be with him anymore. I never really loved him. I thought I did, but after Emily…" She backed away until her back hit the wall behind her, and she allowed her body to slide down the wall until her bottom hit the carpet. "Knowing that she was in Paris, alone, with no one she loved there to comfort her and keep her safe, I knew that I couldn't live the lie anymore. So the night after the hearing at the Capitol, while we were still in the middle of all that Ian Doyle shit, I told him everything. He reacted by running away to New Orleans for two weeks, getting drunk off his ass every night with his old buddies from the NOLA PD I'm sure, and when he came back, he told me that he wanted to take Henry on one final father-son trip, and then he'd be out of my life for good. He's being such a fucking child, and…and…"

"JJ, I'm sorry, I had no idea…" He walked over to her and sat down beside her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and let her head fall down against his own.

"Of course you had no idea. I didn't tell you. I didn't tell anyone. I figured that, if I kept the real story to myself, it would make it seem like this whole thing wasn't my fault…"

"You're blaming yourself for all of this?"

"Well…yeah," she answered.

"JJ, you were just being honest with him. He's the one who is taking this whole thing to an extreme. You can't honestly think that him acting like a child right now is in any way on you."

"You know what? You're right," JJ said, sitting up straight and looking Spencer in the eye. "Remind me again why I chose him over you again?"

"Over me?"

He watched her bite her bottom lip, something he knew she did when she was regretting a decision, and then, after a few more silent moments, she continued. "That night we went to the football game…we had a good time, right?"

"With the exception of the overly loud and under dressed fans and the unhygienic bathrooms…yeah, I'd say we did." He was happy when she reacted at his joke with a laugh, even though he knew they both knew it wasn't that funny. "I just figured you saw me as more of a friend, a very reliable co-worker so…when the night was over, so was any chance at us having anything more than our very strong friendship."

"You were never curious if it could have gone further with us?"

"JJ, I wondered all the time what it would have been like if you and I established a romantic relationship out of that night, because I'm so head over heels in love with you that every day I had to work with you knowing you were with another guy literally broke my heart into teeny tiny pieces. I wanted to be the guy you lived with, the guy you had a baby with, the guy you were in love with…"

"But Spence, I do love you."

"But not in the way I love you, and that's okay…"

"I just kissed you," JJ said, standing up. She walked over to the doorway of the guest bedroom and crossed her arms over her chest. "I kissed you right here, on my own, with no one telling me to." She walked back over to him and crouched down in front of him. "I know that my stomach does somersaults when I look at you. I feel my heart skip a beat when you smile at me and no one else. When Will and I would walk Henry in the park, I pictured it was your hand that I was holding because, deep down inside of me, I knew that you were the guy I wanted to be with. So don't tell me that I'm not thinking clearly. For the first time in the last five years, this is the clearest my head has ever been."

Spencer couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. He had wanted to hear her say those things for so long. He had come to terms with the fact that he would never hear them. But here she was, on her knees in front of him, staring at him with those gorgeous ocean blue eyes, and he lost himself in them.

The next thing he knew, their lips were attached again, but this time he did nothing to stop the kiss. It was soft and gentle at first, laying the groundwork for what was surely to come, but soon the intensity coming from JJ was enough to light a fire under him. He placed his hands on either side of her face and allowed his fingers to slide through her blonde hair for just a moment, then pulled her closer to him. His knees, which had been bent up towards the ceiling, straightened out and JJ shimmied to the point where she strattled his hips and sank down on top of him. Spencer felt the blush rush to his cheeks as JJ broke the kiss and smirked at him as she felt his arousal below her.

"Well hello there, Doctor Reid," she giggled. She began to gently grind her hips against him, causing him to moan. She attached her lips to his neck and began to kiss and suck the skin just above his collar bone, and Spencer had to close his eyes and try to think of anything else to keep him from…ahem…arriving too soon.

"JJ…maybe we should…we should slow down a bit…" he whispered in a hoarse voice.

"Not a chance," she said back to him. "Do you know how long I've been waiting to do this with you? To have the chance to say that I took the brilliant, yet extremely innocent, Spencer Reid to bed for his first time? It's too good of an opportunity to pass up."

"Not my…first time…" he told her while still trying to maintain his composure. This must have caught her attention, because she jolted up and looked at him with extreme confusion written all over her face.

"What do you mean?"

"Do I really have to spell it out for you? I'm not a virgin. Lila Archer beat you to that particular milestone."

"Really? Lila Archer? When did this happen?" JJ's knees still sat on the carpet on either side of Spencer's hips, but she sat backwards on top of his shins and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Remember the week I went to visit my mom in Vegas after the Owen Porter case?"

"How could I forget? You turned your phone off and no one heard from you for eight days. We were starting to think you might have been taken or something. We almost started an investigation…"

"Morgan still brings it up whenever I miss one of his calls," Spencer laughed.

"It's not funny! We were legitimately worried about you."

"I know you were, and I've already said sorry so many times I'm not going to say it again. But anyways, Lila called me while I was there and, when she realized how close I was to LA, she decided to take a few days off work and come to Vegas to see me. Mom took a liking to her right away, probably because Lila brought her a first edition of _Jane Eyre_. She's never been a huge fan of Jane Austen, but she appreciated the effort, I'm sure."

"I've always liked your mother, probably because you two are so much alike."

Spencer leaned forward and kissed her softly. "I think that's probably the sweetest thing you've ever said to me. I love the fact that I'm so much like her. She's the best person I know."

"So, Lila…?"

"Right, of course, that…" He took a deep breath, shaking off any nerves that had silently built in his body, and began to tell her the story. "After spending a few hours at Bennington with me and my mom, Lila suggested the two of us go have dinner and catch up. She gushed about her new television show, which actually did sound quite intriguing, and I told her about some of our more…tame cases, I guess. She seemed quite fascinated with it, which I was happy about. I never want to be talking to a pretty girl and be boring her out of her mind."

"Like you've never done that before," JJ laughed. "Remember when the team was in Atlanta going around giving out the profile to women in the clubs so they could watch out for that unsub that was making his victims clean up after themselves? I mean, I was on maternity leave and all, but Morgan talks…"

"That bastard!" Spencer growled. "Are you going to let me finish my story?"

"Oh definitely," JJ smirked.

"You're an evil little woman, you know that?" Spencer said, but accepted a kiss that JJ placed on his lips anyways. "We went back to Lila's hotel room because she said she had something there that she wanted me to take a look at. I had no idea that what she wanted me to look at was…well…her, in a very revealing piece of black lingerie complete with garters and knee high boots."

"That slut!" JJ exclaimed, mocking Spencer's earlier outburst. "So how many times did you two do it?"

"A few," he said. There was the blush returning again. "We had three days together after she arrived, and we really didn't leave the room much except to go visit my mom…"

"I take back what I said earlier about her being a slut. She's not the slut," JJ said. "You are! She turned you into a bit of a nymphomaniac didn't she?"

"Actually, nymphomania is a neurotic condition in women in which the symptoms are a compulsion to have sexual intercourse with as many men as possible and an inability to have lasting relationships with them," Spencer said. "A man can't technically be a nymphomaniac."

"Well excuse me Mr. Know It All," JJ laughed. "I will say, though, now that I know you actually have experience in the bedroom, it makes me kind of want you more." She stood up and extended her hands to him. He took them, and she helped him up to his feet. Her arms draped over his shoulders and his settled on her waist. "Kiss me, Doctor Reid, and let me show you how number two can be a lot better than number one."

Their lips touched, and neither one of them held anything back this time. JJ let her tongue slide along Spencer's bottom lip, requesting entry, and he allowed it with no hesitation. He let his hands grab tighter around her waist and lifted her off the ground, and she wrapped her legs around him. The two turned and Spencer threw JJ back against the wall, pushing his body into hers. They continued to kiss feverishly, Spencer rubbing his hands up and down JJ's body while she ran hers through his shaggy hair.

"Bedroom," JJ gasped as Spencer's mouth traveled down to her neck. "Now!"

"Your wish is my command, my love," he replied, dropping her feet to the ground. She grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him down the hallway to the master bedroom, slamming the door behind them after they were both inside. She began unbuttoning her shirt, and Spencer pulled his sweater vest over his head. When he turned back around to her, Spencer saw JJ standing in front of him in just her bra and panties. His breath caught in his throat, and all he could do was gape and stare at her.

"Do you like? It was totally a coincidence that I ended up wearing some of my cutest intimates today, but I'm sure as hell glad I did."

"Uh…yeah, me too," Spencer finally said. "Get over here."

JJ took one step towards him, but was stopped by the loud ringing of the phone. Spencer's shoulders dropped, but JJ shook her head. "Let the machine get it."

They got lost in each other, and even made it to the bed, with Spencer lying directly on top of JJ, but were interrupted by the sound of a voice coming through the answering machine downstairs in the kitchen. The fact that they could hear the message so clearly even though they were on the second floor was what stopped Spencer in his tracks. What stopped JJ, however, was a completely different story.

"JJ, it's Will. Where the hell are you? I tried you at work, and your cell is going straight to voicemail. I need you to call me back. Something's happened to Henry. Someone's taken him."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Spencer felt JJ"s body stiffen below him as Will's voice spoke the words that no parent ever wants to have to hear or say. He wondered if she could notice that he was in panic mode as well, since Henry was his godson and the closest he'd probably ever get to having a child of his own, but he didn't need to focus on his own emotions right now. The woman he loved was going through a crisis, a living nightmare, and the only thing he needed to put his energy into was helping to ease her pain as best as he could.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked her as he pushed himself off of her and rolled beside her. When she didn't answer, he reached out and slightly shook her to attention. "JJ, sweetie…"

"Huh? Oh, right…um…we need to…the first twenty four hours…call the team…"

"I say this with the sincerest heart," Spencer said to her as he grabbed hold of her hands, "you need to take a minute and try to calm down…"

"How do you suggest I do that, Spence? My child has been abducted! He's barely four years old! I have to get there…I have to go find him…he's probably so scared…"

"You know as well as I do that our team won't be able to work on this case, JJ. We're all to personally involved with the victim…"

"Victim…" JJ muttered. "Oh shit, I never thought in a million years that I'd be using that word to describe my son."

"You need to call Will and figure out what happened." Spencer squeezed his hand around hers tighter. "Listen to me, okay, because I know you need to hear this. We _will_ find him. If we have to break every single rule in the FBI's book to do it, we will. No one is going to let anything happen to Henry. We all love him too much."

"I hope you're right." She slowly sat up, and he followed. "I need to call Will…"

JJ reached for the cordless on the bedside table, but Spencer got there first. He graciously handed it to her and, as she dialed Will's number, he began gathering the clothes that had been scattered all over the floor in their previous rush to remove them. He handed her her jeans, and she thanked him with a small, forced smile. Even there, he thought, in the middle of a nightmare, she radiated beauty to him.

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and her smile faded. "My phone died! Well, I'm sorry for thinking that my son was in safe, capable hands! Don't you _dare_ blame this on me, Will. The only irresponsible thing I did was let him go on this trip with you!" Spencer did his best not to listen in, but JJ's voice had exceeded any level he had ever heard it reach before. She probably had woken up some her neighbors as well. "Oh, that's some big talk for someone who lets his son disappear under his own nose! What the hell was so important that it made you set aside the needs of your own child? Oh…oh my God, are you serious? You have _got_ to be shitting me! You are such an ass hole! Who does that? I don't care, Will. I don't fucking care! We'll be there in four hours, tops. Try not to screw anything else up."

She violently turned the phone off and then, much to Spencer' surprise, threw the device at a window. He saw JJ was crying, which was to be expected in a time like this, but his focus was drawn to the shards of glass at her feet…her bare feet. It was almost like she didn't even realize it was there.

"JJ, stop!" he screamed, grabbing her and wrapping his arms around her. His arms slid over her bare stomach and he kissed her neck, doing his best to calm her down as much as he could.

"Hey Spence?" JJ said quietly, breaking a long silence.

"Yes?"

"We're…we're going to find him, right?"

"Of course we are. We're the best at what we do. If anyone can find him, we can." He grabbed her face and kissed her. "I promise. Finish getting dressed. I'll call Garcia and get her up to date, and then we'll get the team to the BAU. Even if we can't technically work the case, there's no way Strauss is going to keep us all from going down there with you."

He left her alone in the bedroom, reaching into his bag, which was sitting just outside the guest bedroom's door, and grabbing his cell phone from the inside pocket. His eidetic memory allowed him to easily memorize people's phone numbers, but he didn't want to tie up JJ's land line, just in case someone called about Henry. Garcia answered her phone on the sixth ring, just before his call would have been sent to voicemail.

"Boy genius, believe me when I say that you are hands down one of my favoritest people in the whole entire world, but right now, as it is two o'clock in the morning and I was having a fabulously delicious dream about me and a certain fellow profiler which you so rudely interrupted with your…"

"Garcia, stop talking and listen to me. This is extremely important," Spencer all but yelled. "Henry's missing."

"What? I thought…I thought he was in New Orleans with Will?"

"Will just called JJ about five minutes ago and told her that he had been taken," Spencer said. "I need you to call NOLA PD and get all the information you can from them. I want to know everything they know. Get the team to the BAU, too. JJ and I will be there in ten minutes."

"Right, of course, you go it. I am all over this like…like…I can't think of a witty simile right now to go with how majorly on top of this I am because I'm freaking out too much. You will hear from me when I know more. Ciao. Hey wait, what are you doing at JJ's…"

JJ appeared at his side as he hung up the phone on the tech analyst. The last thing he needed right now was to be flooded with questions about him and JJ. He wouldn't even know how to begin answering them anyways.

"Is the team on board?" she asked him.

"Garcia's on it," he answered. "Come on, we've got a lot to do and a very short amount of time to do it all in. We've still got to find another team to head up to Boston to cover the case up there too…"

"I'm not even worried about that right now. I just want to get to New Orleans and find my baby." Spencer pulled her tightly into a hug as she began to cry again. He couldn't help that inside of him, his blood was boiling in anger at Will's inability to watch and care for his child. As much as he wanted to strangle JJ's ex for doing this to her, he knew that wouldn't do any good in finding Henry. So he bottled up his emotions as well as he could and focused on the woman in his arms. He kissed the top of her forehead and then moved her away from him so that he could look into her eyes. She had cried so much tonight, but with the exception of smeared eye makeup and small amount of puffiness, she was still beautiful.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go find him."

* * *

><p>The team was waiting for them at the BAU when they arrived. Spencer questioned how the other five members of the team, including Garcia, arrived in Quantico before he and JJ did, because she lived the closest to headquarters, but he didn't voice his opinions out loud. He just took the file that Garcia handed him as he walked through the doors of the conference room and then led JJ to the two empty chairs left at the table where the rest of the team was sitting.<p>

"Four year old Henry LaMontagne was reporting missing half an hour ago by his father, NOLA PD officer Will LaMontagne. He reportedly had gone out for drinks with some of his friends to watch a Saints game at a local bar and left the child at the small apartment he has been renting on the French Quarter alone…"

"He did what?" Spencer exclaimed, looking over at JJ. She just nodded her head and kept her eyes down at her hands, and Spencer could see that she was picking at her cuticles. He made a mental note to talk to Emily about passing on her bad habits.

"Like I was saying, he left Henry alone at the apartment but did ask his elderly neighbor, who is eighty-four years old and needs a walker to get around, to check in on him every hour. When he returned to the apartment around midnight, he discovered that Henry was not there and the back door was halfway open. It had snowed in New Orleans two days before, and there was still enough powder on the ground to show one set of size 12 footprints leading to the door and two sets of footprints leading away."

"Henry walked out the back door with his abductor?" Emily asked.

"So then he must have known whoever it was," Morgan said. "I find it highly unlikely that, with two parents in law enforcement, Henry would have willingly walked out of the back door with someone he didn't know."

"I agree," Hotch said. "These crime scene photos just don't say stranger abduction to me. Whoever has Henry came in through the back door, but there's no forced entry, which means they either had a key and let themselves in or…"

"Or he knocked on the door and Henry opened it because he knew the person on the other side," Rossi chimed in. "JJ, do you know which friends Will was out with tonight?"

"He just told me it was a couple of cops he used to work with, and his friend Johnny, who he went to high school with," JJ said, wiping away some tears from underneath her eyes. "I'm sure he'd have introduced all of them to Henry by now, they've been there for almost four days."

"According to Will, no one left the bar until after the game was over," Spencer read off of the report in front of him. "How far is the bar from the apartment complex?"

"About nine blocks away," Garcia said. "What are you thinking?"

"Nine blocks would take between seven and ten minutes to walk on foot, depending on the person walking," Spencer said, standing up and walking towards the map in front of the table.

"Even a normal bathroom break wouldn't take that long," Hotch said.

"So whoever has Henry wasn't at the bar with Will, but has been introduced to Henry in the last four days since they've been there?" JJ said. "You guys, that only eliminates like six or so guys from the NOLA PD force."

"But we know his shoe size," Garcia noted. "Can that help us narrow down the suspects?"

"It's a start," Hotch said. "Also eliminate anyone who is married or in a serious relationship where they are living with their significant other. Whoever has him needs to have privacy and a lot of room."

"He's not younger than thirty, because he worked with Will when he was still in New Orleans, but probably no older than mid-forties," Emily said.

"Our guy probably doesn't have any priors, especially any involving kidnapping, and my gut is saying that this has nothing to do with Henry," Morgan said. "JJ, does Will hold any grudges with anyone on the force?"

"We don't really talk much about it," JJ said. "If he does, he wouldn't have told me."

"So our unsub is a male, probably between the age of thirty and forty-five, has a size 12 shoe, has met Henry some time in the last four days, is single and lives alone, and may possibly hold some kind of major nasty grudge against Will," Garcia said. "I will work my magic fingers and get a list of possibles to you ASAP."

"I've gotten the OK from Strauss to work on this case," Hotch said. "She's sending Sam Cooper and his team to Boston while we go to New Orleans. Wheels up in ten."

Everyone stood up and began gathering all their materials. JJ, Emily, and Garcia walked out together, and Hotch quickly followed them, leaving Spencer in the room with Morgan and Rossi. The way they were looking at him made Spencer extremely uncomfortable.

"What?" he asked sharply.

"What were you doing at JJ's house at two in the morning, huh?" Morgan laughed.

"The only time I'm ever at a woman's house that late is when we've been…well, you know," Rossi started.

"That is the last thing any of us need to be focusing on right now, don't you think?" Spencer hissed as he walked by them on his way out of the conference room. "Besides, it's none of your business what I was doing there."

The two older men tried to contain their laughter as Spencer turned and left the room. When he was out of ear shot, the two of them grinned childishly at each other and began to chuckle.

"He finally went for it after all these years," Rossi said.

"Can you imagine, though?" Morgan said as they walked out. "Getting that chance with the girl of your dreams you've been waiting for for so long, and then something like this happens?"

"You think it's a sign?"

"Well one thing's for certain," Morgan said. "It sure as hell means something."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter****Four**

To say that the New Orleans police department was in a state of panic when the team walked in the doors was an understatement. JJ caught her breath as she saw Will sitting at a desk, his head in his hands and his right leg shaking violently. He looked absolutely devastated and, for a moment, she felt bad about she reacted.

But her moment passed when she saw the image showing on a large screen on the wall.

"Why weren't we notified about this?" Hotch asked the lead detective, pointing to the screens.

"We just received it ourselves, Agent Hotchner," was the detective's response, "not even three minutes before your team pulled up."

"We'll need to send this to Garcia ASAP," Morgan said. "Maybe she can trace the source…"

JJ felt her knees buckle underneath her as she looked at her child's face, a blindfold over his eyes and a gag in his mouth. She succumbed to the gravity pulling her down and began to fall, but she never made contact with the floor. She looked up and saw Spencer staring back at her, his arms around her, holding her up. She smiled softly as a thank you, and he smiled back. In that moment, JJ knew, no matter what happened here, she would always have him, and that was enough to briefly comfort her.

"Reid, take JJ and Will into the room the detectives have set up for us," Hotch ordered. Spencer did just that, although he felt slightly uncomfortable with the thought of being in a room alone with the exes, especially with what had just happened between him and JJ just a mere three hours, thirty six minutes, nineteen seconds ago.

"I think the best thing for both of you to do right now is to try and get along," Spencer said to the pair as they sequestered themselves from the rest of the team in the small office. "I know you hate each other right now…"

"I don't hate her," Will spoke quietly.

"Speak for yourself," JJ sneered. "I can't believe you left him alone in that place, Will! What kind of father does that?"

"I just needed a few hours to myself…"

"You're the one that asked for this trip! You wanted Henry to come with you! If I had known you were just going to come down here to drink with all of your old friends…"

"JJ, maybe now's not the right time or place for this," Spencer said, taking a step towards her. He knew he needed to calm her down, because he knew what she was capable of right now as a mother worried about her child's safety.

"Stay out of this, Spence," JJ scowled. "He knows he deserves this. Isn't that right, Will?"

"M-m-m-maybe Spencer's right, JJ. Maybe we should all calm down a bit…"

"You want me to be calm?" JJ laughed. "Did you not see that video feed, Will? That's our son! He's being held hostage! Have you even thought about what's going through _his_ head right now? How scared he must be?"

"JJ, how many times do I have to say 'I'm sorry'?"

"Sorry isn't good enough, Will!" JJ screamed.

"Alright, that's enough!" Spencer yelled over the two. "You both need to stop arguing. I get that you're both freaking out right now, but the last thing Henry needs is for his parents to be turning against each other. You two need to stop thinking about yourselves and start thinking about your son…"

"I _am_ thinking about him, Spence," JJ yelled back.

"No, you're thinking about all the ways you can blame Will for this," he said back. He stopped when Prentiss stuck her head into the room and motioned for him to come outside with her. "Do me a favor? Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

He walked out of the room, and let out a sigh of relief when the door shut behind him. Prentiss laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Those two are absolutely at each other's throats in there," he answered. "Please don't make me go back in there alone."

"You won't have to," Emily said. "Hotch and the others are in the chief's office. The unsub just called in to the station and made a ransom demand."

"How much money does he want?"

"He doesn't want any money," Emily said. Spencer watched as her eyes traveled behind him, to the room where JJ and Will were being held. He didn't know which one of them she was staring at, but when her eyes returned to him, they said everything that he feared was true.

"No, no way," he said, shaking his head vigorously. They didn't even know who the unsub was. They didn't know his criminal background. They didn't know anything about his past. They had no way of knowing what would happen if they met his demands, and since that now meant putting the woman he loved in danger…

"Reid, if we want to get Henry back safely, we don't have a choice," Prentiss said. "You know as well as I do that Hotch isn't going to let this guy actually take JJ hostage, but at least we now know the driving force behind this guy taking Henry. Probably, somewhere in his mind, he feels like if Will hadn't stepped in, JJ would be with him, and Henry would be his son…"

Spencer couldn't help but notice the major similarities between the unsub and himself. He felt the same way about Will, wondering if something would have happened between him and JJ earlier if Will hadn't been in the picture, but he wouldn't have gone to the lengths that the unsub was going to right now. And, with the events that had happened earlier, he knew that, even if he was willing to do something drastic to get JJ away from Will, he wouldn't have to. She wanted to be with him, too. She told him she loved him. There was no way he was going to let this happen.

"No," he said again. "Find another way. I'm not risking JJ."

"What's going on with you?" Prentiss asked him. "Why are you being so overprotective of her?"

"I think the better question to ask, Emily, is why am I the _only_ one being so overprotective? She's my friend. I don't want to see her get hurt."

"She's not going to get hurt," Prentiss said back. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were…" Suddenly, Emily's eyes got extremely wide and her mouth formed into an O. He immediately knew she had figured it out. She was too good at her job. "You…and JJ?"

Spencer nodded. "That's why I was at her house when Will called her about Henry. We were…well…"

"It's about damn time," Emily laughed.

"Huh?"

"Reid, if you think that any of us on the team didn't know about your huge crush on JJ, you're not as good of a profiler as you think you are. But don't worry, I think JJ's worse at it. She's been looking at you really differently recently. I knew it was only a matter of time before you two finally got together."

"Please don't say anything to anyone, Emily."

"Oh trust me, I won't have to. Morgan and Rossi already know. They figured it out when you two came in to the conference room together tonight."

"Which means that Garcia probably knows too…"

"I wouldn't count it out," Emily laughed. "Morgan mentioned it to me, but I didn't believe him. I do now, though. I'm pretty sure Hotch knows too, but he won't say anything because…well…he's Hotch."

"There has to be another way to get Henry back," Spencer said.

"I'm afraid that, right now, there isn't," Emily said to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Do you want me to tell her?"

"No, I'll do it," he said. "Thanks Emily."

"No problem, lover boy," she mocked.

Spencer turned and headed back into the room. As much as he didn't want to be alone with JJ and Will in there anymore, he felt slightly morally obligated to be the one to tell them about the next step. Part of him felt like Will shouldn't even be there, but if they were right about the profile, both JJ and Will probably knew who this guy was. It was imperative that Spencer continue to weigh down his feelings long enough to find Henry, so he had to make sure he delivered the new details as professionally as possible.

"What did Emily say?" JJ asked the moment he stepped into the room. "Do they know where Henry is?" He just shook his head, walking past them and taking a seat on top of the table. "Spence, what's going on?"

"The…um…the unsub…called the station…" he forced out. JJ's face was frantic. Will just looked exhausted. "He made a ransom demand…"

"How much?" JJ asked. Spencer paused, trying to figure out the best way to phrase his next sentence. "Spencer, how much money does he want?"

Surprisingly, it was Will who was the next one to speak, with a simple response that surprised Spencer so much that he almost fell off of the wooden piece of furniture he was sitting on. "He doesn't want money, does he Spencer? He wants JJ."

"What? How do you know that? Spence, is he right?"

"Do you know who this man is, Will?" Spencer asked him, ignoring JJ. Will's shoulders rose and dropped, and his head tilted towards the floor, like he was a five year old being reprimanded by his mother for breaking an antique vase. "If you know who it is Will, you need to tell me right now."

"Will, what do you know?" JJ screamed. "What are you hiding?"

"I didn't know if I knew anything for sure until JJ started telling me about the profile you guys started to work on while you were on the plane ride down here," Will said to them. "There's only one person I know who fits the description."

"Who?" Spencer and JJ exclaimed together.

"Cooper Franklin," Will said.

"Oh my God…" JJ gasped. "He's right…"

"The weekend before we all met up in Miami when Charlie got killed, JJ had been down here visiting me. Cooper was all over her. I didn't think anything of it at first, because Cooper's such a damn flirt with every woman he meets, whether she's single or not, but after we found out we were gonna have Henry, he kind of imploded…"

"How so?" Spencer asked, cataloging every word that Will was telling him.

"He would shoot me evil looks. He pretty much stopped talking to me, except to ask me how it felt to be with a woman who was in a more powerful career than I was. I heard from some of the other guys that he liked to talk shit about me when I wasn't around, but he would talk about JJ like she was a goddess. I never thought it was because he was into her or anything. You and I both know she's gorgeous, Spencer. No one's denying that fact. I just thought he didn't like it that I made detective before he did and he was lashing out at me."

"He was lashing out alright," JJ added.

"It wasn't until I came back down here with Henry that I started to think there was something else going on. He was too focused on getting to know Henry. He wanted to show him around the station, go with us to the movies and stuff…"

"And that didn't strike you as odd?" Spencer asked.

"I just thought he was trying to make it up to me for being such an asshole," Will answered. "He's not a violent person. A little messed up in the head, maybe, but capable of stealing a child? No way…"

"Wait a minute," JJ suddenly said. "A week after I came back from New Orleans that time, right before Miami, I got a bouquet of flowers sent to me anonymously. No note, no card, no nothing. Just flowers. And now that I think about it, every year around Henry's birthday I get anonymous flowers. I don't know why I never questioned it…"

"Because you thought they were from Will," Spencer said.

"But if I thought they were from Will, why didn't a red flag go up when I realized they weren't signed? Will would take credit for flowers. He always has."

"Because, to you, there was no one else who would actually take time out of their day to send you flowers on a seemingly unimportant day," Spencer answered her, although in his mind he added himself into that statement.

"Spencer, do you think there is any connection between the day JJ receives the flowers and the day she met Cooper Franklin?" Will asked.

"It's possible. We need to get Hotch and the rest of the team in here. JJ, call Garcia and get her to get us addresses to all pieces of real estate that has Cooper Franklin's name on it. He probably isn't keeping Henry at his house." JJ pulled out her cell phone and hit speed dial #7, which would send her directly to Garcia's office. Spencer rushed out of the room and headed straight to the rest of the team, who were discussing options with some of the uniformed officers.

"What have you got?" Hotch asked as Spencer appeared. Spencer took a deep breath before answering.

"Will figured out who the unsub is," he answered, "and this guy is way more complicated than any of us would ever think. We need to adjust the profile."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thank you all so much for all of your support so far on this story! I'm new to this site, but all of you who have commented and favorited this story have really made me feel welcome. I hope you enjoy the new chapter! This story will probably only be about three more chapters, one more to finish the case and then the last two are dedicated for that M rating for the Reid/JJ pairing that probably brought you guys to this story to begin with! So please enjoy, and feel free to leave some more of those amazing comments for me to read! **_

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><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

"Tell me you've got something, Garcia," Hotch said as the entire team, including JJ and Will, gathered around a large table. A speaker was sitting in the middle of the table, the call connected to Quantico.

"Oh ye of little faith, how dare you doubt me," Garcia's quirky voice joked through the speaker. "Thanks to Will, we have this scum bag's name, and you know how good I am with names." Spencer could just hear the smile that was sure to be plastered all over Garcia's face. "Cooper Franklin was born in and lived in nearby Shreveport until he was fifteen when both his parents were killed in a tragic robbery gone wrong in their home in the middle of the night. Franklin, who had no living family except for an elderly grandmother in Maryland who lived in an assisted living facility, was placed into the system and sent to live in a foster home in Texas, but was never adopted."

"What does all of this have to do with where he's hiding Henry, Garcia?" JJ spoke, her voice cracking significantly when she said her son's name.

"I'm getting there," Garcia said.

"We don't have time for this, Garcia," Hotch said.

"Right, sorry," Garcia cowered. "My apologies, sir. Long story short, on his eighteenth birthday he returned to the home he lived in with his parents, which had never sold because of what had happened inside, and started living there again."

"He lived in the house where his parents were killed?" Prentiss asked out loud.

"Yeah, totally creepy, right? And to make matters worse, he started a crystal meth lab in the basement soon after to make money," Garcia continued. "He was busted when he was twenty-two, spent a few months in jail, cleaned up his act, and when he was released he immediately enrolled himself in the police academy."

"He used to always make jokes that he was a great face for recruitment into the force," Will said, "a drug addict and dealer who ended up using his knowledge of the drug world for good by becoming a cop. He lived up to it too, getting some of the kids he used to sell to to actually become undercovers. It wasn't easy to do. He's got a real way of words with that kind of stuff."

"How old were these kids?" Morgan asked Will.

"I don't know," was his reply. "In their late teens, I guess. Maybe early twenties?"

"Was he in sexual relationships with any of these boys?" Rossi asked.

"What? No way, not a chance," Will gasped. "At least, I don't think so…"

"We need to figure out what made his preference change from teenage boys back to women his own age," Hotch said. "I don't think he moved even further onto young boys, but it's probably best to keep that piece of the puzzle open, just in case. Garcia, do you have an address for the house in Shreveport?"

"Already sent to your phones," the tech analyst answered.

"Baby girl, you need to dig deeper," Morgan said. "We need to as much about Franklin as we can. If he's not in Shreveport, we need another location that means something to him."

"You got it," she said. "Garcia out."

"So you said the profile was going to have to change," the lead detective said after the call was disconnected. "What changes?"

"Since this was ultimately about an obsession focused on Agent Jareau, we have to change the way we think about what he would do if cornered," Rossi answered.

"How so?"

"An unsub who abducts children because he is sexually attracted to them is usually someone who won't be violent when surrounded," Spencer said. "He will go quietly, because he's already gotten what he wants. He isn't losing anything. An unsub like Franklin, though, won't go down without a fight because the object that he truly desires still hasn't been apprehended."

"Do you think he'll try to kidnap JJ before the swap?" Will asked.

"There's a chance, but we won't let that happen," Emily chimed in. "We have the upper hand, though, since we know who he is now. We can keep a lookout for him."

"Rossi, I want you, Reid, and JJ to stay here and wait for Garcia to call back with information on Franklin. Morgan and Prentiss, we're going to Shreveport."

"Hotch, I want to go," Spencer said. "If Franklin is in that house, I want to be the one to put the bastard in handcuffs."

"As much as I admire your spirit Reid, I need you here," Hotch said. He lowered his voice before he continued, speaking directly into Spencer's ear. "I need you here to keep JJ calm. Whatever is going on between you two, I don't care what it is, but it seems to be helping her focus. Stay here, be here for her."

"Yes sir," Spencer replied, swallowing down the knot that had formed in this throat. In a flash, all three of the team members heading to Shreveport were gone, and Spencer turned his attention to JJ. "Will, you and Rossi go over everything and see if you can come up with anything else about Franklin's past. JJ, let's talk in private."

"Spence, I want to be here when Garcia calls back," JJ said, looking down at the speaker on the table, yearning to hear the sound of a ringer.

"We won't go far," Spencer said, reaching out for her. He caught a quick glimpse of Will, wondering if he was suspicious of anything, but he only saw exhaustion and hurt in his eyes. He let out a small sigh of relief, careful to not bring attention to it. "Come on, JJ."

JJ didn't want to leave the room, but she hadn't been alone with Spencer since the car ride to the BAU over six hours ago. She wanted a few moments to hold him and cry and be vulnerable; she wanted to be able to act like a terrified mother. She couldn't do that with Will. She had lost the ability to feel anything less than anger around him anymore. She took Spencer's outstretched hand and followed him outside the station. The sun burned her eyes, and she squeezed tighter onto Spencer's hand as she closed them for any kind of relief.

The pair entered a small café a block away. JJ wondered why Spencer had brought her here. She and Will had come here for coffee many times when she had visited. It held many happy memories, but she didn't want to remember them. She hadn't been with the right guy then. Now that she had Spencer in her life the way she always wanted, any place that even slightly reminded her of Will wouldn't be good enough or worth her time.

"I thought you said we wouldn't go far," JJ said as Reid guided her into a small booth in the back of the café. He sat facing the door, so he could see if someone decided to follow them into the café. "How will we know if Garcia calls back?"

"Rossi will let us know when that happens," Spencer said. "We're only a block away. You needed to get out of that police station, JJ. You were starting to lose control of your emotions. I know you, and I know you don't want to break down in front of the team; at least, not when we're on a case."

"But this isn't just any case, Spence," she said to him. "My little boy is missing. A man that is obsessed with me has him. He wants to trade me for Henry. I think it's more than acceptable for me to break down in this particular situation."

"And I totally agree," Spencer said, "but it should be somewhere other than that stuffy, un-air conditioned police station." He reached across the table and took both of her hands in his. "I know you're scared. We all are. But you need to know that I will go to the ends of the Earth protecting you. That goes for Henry, too. I'm not going to let anything happen to either one of you. Just think of me as your knight in shining armor." He let out a wide grin, and JJ couldn't help but release a small giggle in response.

"You're ridiculous, you know that?" she said. "But you are the sweetest, most amazing guy I've ever had the blessing of knowing. Thank you for being here for me, and looking out for my best interest. What you said in there earlier, about wanting to be the one to put Franklin in handcuffs…"

"Yeah, that was a little overboard, I think."

"No, not at all! I thought it was extremely heroic! I really felt like you were protecting me."

"Well…I am, JJ," Spencer said. "I always have, and I always will."

"And I know that." She slid from her side of the booth and joined him on his side. She linked her arm through his and leaned her head against his shoulder. She smiled when she felt his cheek tilt down to sit on top of her head. "Thank you for being you."

He kissed her forehead softly, and soon he felt wet tears soaking through the fabric of his shirt on the skin of his shoulders. He didn't know how long JJ had been holding the tears in, but he just held her and let her cry. This was, of course, why he had taken her out of the station to begin with. She began shaking, and he held on to her tighter. When a waitress came over to their table to take their order, he waved her away, but not before she caught a glimpse of JJ's shaking form.

"Is she alright?" the woman said.

"Yes ma'am," Spencer answered. "She's just having a rough day." He tried to hold back a smirk when he heard JJ scoff, a sound that was hopefully muffled by the fabric of his shirt, since her face was buried into his chest. "Actually, you can bring us both some coffee."

"Cream and sugar?"

"Yes ma'am," Spencer said again. When they were alone again, Spencer pulled JJ's face up so that she could look at him while he spoke to her.

"I must look hideous right now," JJ said, wiping the tears away from her face.

"You look so beautiful," he answered, leaning down slightly and placing a kiss on her lips. He lingered there a little longer than he should have, but it had been six long hours since he had been able to kiss her, and he didn't know when the next time would be.

"Thank you," JJ said quietly after they separated.

"For what?"

"For just being here for me through all this. I don't know how I would be able to handle any of it if I didn't have you here to support me."

"Well get used to it, because it's not going to stop any time soon," he joked. "I love you, you know."

"Yeah, you might have mentioned it once or twice already," she said to him. "I love you too. I have to kick myself sometimes to remind me that all of this that's happening with us is real, you know? It's like my biggest dream coming true."

"It's funny, when your dreams come true, it's never in the way you want," Spencer said. "I played it in my mind over and over again, how it would go when I finally told you how I felt about you. I just didn't get a chance to do or say any of it because…"

"Because Henry got taken."

"I was going to say because you beat me to it, but yes, that is true too."

"Spencer, what am I going to do? I really don't know how I'm going to live without Henry. If something happens to him because we don't give Cooper Franklin what he wants…"

"Well, Cooper Franklin isn't going to get what he wants, because there's no way I'm going to let him lay a hand on you," Spencer said. Just then, Will and Rossi walked through the door of the café, their eyes scanning for any familiar faces they could find. Will's eyes met Spencer's first, but almost immediately went down to JJ, who was once again curled up against his chest. Spencer watched as his body language changed completely, and he knew that there was no way he and JJ would be able to hide their budding relationship any longer from Will.

"Why did you get so tense all of a sudden? What's wrong?" JJ asked, sitting up and looking at Spencer. He just nodded his head in the direction of the front entrance of the café. She looked there too, and saw Will and Rossi. She smiled at first, but when she saw Will's pained and confused face looking right at her, her smile dropped. He had seen her with Spencer.

"Maybe he'll be okay with it," Spencer whispered.

"Yeah, right," JJ answered, pushing away from Spencer and sliding out of the booth. Will had already turned on his heel and was storming through the door. She rushed after him, catching up right outside the station. "Will, stop! Let me explain! It's not what it looks like!"

"Well then explain to me what it's supposed to look like, JJ, because it sure as hell looks to me like you're cheating on me with Spencer!"

"It's not cheating since we're not a couple anymore!"

"I don't remember us ever actually breaking up. I knew we were having issues and all, but that doesn't mean…"

"I'm not in love with you anymore, Will. If I'm being honest with you, I never really was. I held out as long as I could for Henry's sake, but after what happened to Emily…"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with it, Will! Knowing that she was in Paris, all alone, with no one she loved there to comfort her and keep her safe, I knew that I couldn't live the lie anymore. You aren't the guy I'm supposed to be with…"

"And you expect me to believe that Spencer is that guy? Really? You've got to be shitting me! I am not losing you to him!"

"You already have! Deal with it!" JJ screamed. "Can we just focus on finding our son? That's really the only thing that matters at this point."

Suddenly, a loud crack pierced through the air, and JJ watched as Will collapsed onto the ground at her feet. She covered her head with one hand as she reached for her gun with the other, darting her gaze around her surroundings, trying to find the source of the sound. Her hand, which she thought she had placed on Will's stomach, landed in something wet and sticky. She looked down and saw her hand was covered in blood.

Will's blood.


	6. Chapter 6

**First off, I apologize for how long it has taken me to update this story. I just hit a rough patch and my brain completely froze on this story and how I wanted to continue it. But I am happy with how this chapter turned out. I didn't want to rush through it and the final product end up being complete crap. I hope you guys enjoy it, and it was worth the wait for it. **

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><p><strong>Chapter Six<strong>

JJ didn't know what to do. She looked down at the motionless body in front of her, the man she used to love and the father of her son, and the only thing she could think of was to cry. But crying wouldn't change what had just happened. Crying wouldn't erase the events of the last twenty four hours. It certainly wouldn't bring Will back to life. But she found herself unable to stop once she had started.

"You know why I had to do it, right?" JJ jumped at the sound of a voice speaking barely above a whisper into her ear. "You aren't supposed to be with him, Jennifer. I couldn't watch you with him like that anymore. It just hurt too much."

"You didn't have to kill him," she spoke, careful not to show any fear. She had to play along with his fantasy so no one else would get hurt on her behalf. "If I had known how…how you felt about me…I would have come to you willingly." She stopped for a minute and let what she had just said sink in, and then continued. "You're right, though, about one thing. Will was always the wrong guy for me."

"I could have told you that from the day you met him, but you never gave me the chance…"

"I was working on the case with my team, Coop. We were trying to catch a serial killer…"

"That's no excuse, Jennifer!" His voice suddenly got much louder, and JJ winced a little, cowering back slightly. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for this moment? How long I've been planning? I have always loved you, and now we cal all be a family, the way it was supposed to be. You, me, and our son…"

_Where the hell is Spence?_ JJ thought to herself, and then said out loud, "Thank you for taking such good care of him. How is he doing?"

"Can you believe Will just left him alone at that apartment? It just ain't right to do that to a little kid."

"It's like you're reading my mind," JJ said. Since he was still behind her, she let her eyes gaze up towards the direction of the café she was just in with Spence. _Why aren't you out here?_ she thought harshly. "Cooper, can I see him? Can you take me to Henry?"

As soon as the question left her lips, she felt something cold and metal wrap around one of her wrists. JJ froze at the action that had just been taken by Franklin. He was going to abduct her, right in front of the police station, and right under her entire team's noses.

"Are the handcuffs necessary? I'm not going to run away, Cooper. I told you, Will wasn't the right man for me to fall in love with…to get my happily ever after…"

"And we will, Jennifer my love. We will be happy. But precautions must be taken. The handcuffs aren't negotiable." The other cuff snapped coldly onto her other wrist, the one that had been sitting on Will's chest but was now uncomfortably behind her back. "On your feet…NOW!"

* * *

><p>Reid's ears perked up at what he thought was the sound of a gun shot. "Did you hear that, Rossi?"<p>

"Hear what, kid?" Rossi countered as he sipped his coffee.

"I thought I heard…but it couldn't be…could it?"

"I'm sure whatever you think you heard was just a figment of your overactive imagination, Reid. Don't try to change the subject." Since Will and JJ had left he café ten minutes before, Rossi had been grilling Spencer on his relationship with the beautiful blonde. Spencer really didn't know how to explain to him what was going on between the two of them, but he sure had been trying. Rossi just wasn't accepting the whole 'we both had eight years worth of suppressed feelings brought upon us by a date that was never repeated and have now only just admitted them to each other and are now and item' story. "There has to me more to it. It can't be that simple. It never is that simple."

"There really isn't. It's all kind of happened really fast. I don't think either one of us are comfortable with explaining it because we really don't know how to."

"But you do realize the position you're putting Hotch in by dating her, don't you Spencer? Dating another agent isn't technically against any rules, but…"

"HELP! Someone help!" A young woman, barely in her twenties Spencer guessed, burst through the front door of the café. "A man's been shot in the courtyard. The guy that did it is kidnapping the woman he was with."

Reid leapt to his feet and rushed to the woman. "What does the woman look like?"

"Um…blonde hair, blue eyes…" Reid didn't have to hear any more. He knew exactly what was going on. He drew his gun and ran outside, Rossi right behind him. His eyes darted around, trying to find JJ and Cooper Franklin. He saw Will on the ground, a crowd of people around him.

"Rossi, call Hotch and tell him Franklin's here. They need to get back now." He ran to the crowd of people while Rossi pulled out his phone and called the members of their team heading to Shreveport. When he got to the group, he pushed through them and knelt down next to Will. "FBI," he said, flashing his badge. "Who saw what happened here?"

"A man shot Detective LaMontagne and then took the blonde lady he was with," a young boy about the age of fourteen said. "We tried to help her, but he threatened to shoot us if we came any closer."

Spencer knelt down in front of the boy and smiled gently. "Did you see where the bad man took the lady?"

The boy nodded and pointed somewhere behind Reid. He turned his head and saw an alley between two buildings about a block away from the police department in the opposite direction of the café. "There was a big blue pick up truck sitting there, I remember," the boy said. "It had a white stripe on it."

"How long ago?"

"Not even a minute before you came out of the café," a woman answered. She held the young boy's shoulders, and Spencer guessed that this was his mother. "He put her in handcuffs and held a knife to her back. There was nothing we could do."

"Hotch, Prentiss, and Morgan are on their way back," Rossi said as he appeared beside Spencer. "Do we know where Franklin is?"

"You did really well," Spencer said to the young boy. "Thank you." The boy nodded and smiled, but Spencer saw a tear fall from his eye as he looked down at Will's body. "We're going to catch the man that did this, okay? I give you my word." The boy nodded again, and Spencer stood up. "He's got a truck, and JJ's with him."

"Let's go," Rossi said. Their issued black Suburban was parked close by, and the pair jumped in and began searching for any truck resembling the description the boy had given to Reid. Spencer could see a few NOLA police cars behind them, joining in on the search. He didn't find this surprising at all. They had, in fact, just lost a member of their team. This was no longer just about finding a kidnapper. It was about finding a cop killer.

But for Spencer, it was even more than that. It was about saving the woman he loved. He couldn't lose her now, not like this, not when he was so close to having everything he had ever wanted in his entire life. No, he wasn't going to miss out on having JJ in his life forever. He would find her, and he would personally lock his own pair of handcuffs around Cooper Franklin's wrists and take him into custody.

"Vehicle 451 to FBI," a voice came over the walkie talkie sitting in Spencer's lap. "We have a possible visual on the pickup truck. Corner of Hamilton and Kennard Streets. There is no one inside."

Reid fumbled with the device in his hurry to respond. "Copy that. We will be there momentarily." Rossi turned down a few more roads until they came upon the pickup truck. The police were right; this looked exactly like the truck the boy had described. There were four marked patrol cars surrounding it, and a number of uniformed officers were prepping for the inevitable manhunt.

"They're out for blood," Rossi said.

"Do you blame them? Franklin is now a cop killer. They want him dead too," Reid answered. He thought for a moment as Rossi parked the SUV across the street and they both stepped out. "Hey Rossi?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"What do you think are the chances of us finding JJ and Henry both alive?" Spencer surprised himself at how calm and level his voice was, until it cracked as he said the word 'alive'. Losing Henry was one thing. It would be horrible, and JJ wouldn't be able to live with herself, but if he lost JJ… He knew he was being selfish, but considering the situation he found himself in, he figured he deserved to be a little selfish. She was his girl; the woman he wanted to spend forever with. It had taken him so long to get her, and now that he had her, he didn't want to lose her just as quickly.

"Very good," Rossi said. "Stop thinking so morbidly, kid. We're going to find them both, and they're going to be alive."

"Agents," a voice called from behind them. Both Rossi and Reid turned, and saw a uniformed officer running towards them, a piece of white paper extended towards them blowing around in his hand. "Your technical analyst just sent the station this, and they got it to us immediately."

"What is it?" Reid asked as Rossi took the paper from the cop.

"Franklin has a house two miles from here," the young man said, out of breath. "It apparently didn't come up on the original search because it's listed under an alias."

"What's the alias?" Reid asked.

"Henry Cooper," Rossi said before the cop could. "This is it. That's where he's been keeping Henry. That's where he's taking JJ."

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's get over there!" Reid yelled, darting back towards the SUV.

_All available units, please report to the residence at 11432 Hawkes Blind Drive in New Orleans. Residence is believed to be Cooper Franklin's._

"This is it," Reid murmured as they sped off in the direction of Franklin's house.

"You have to let the locals make the arrest, Reid," Rossi said.

"Maybe so, but that doesn't mean I can't take him down myself first," Reid responded. He didn't care that Franklin probably had fifty pounds (or more) on him. He didn't care that Franklin had access to plenty of weapons. He didn't even care that violence due to a personal vendetta was absolutely a violation in FBI protocol.

He was going to save JJ. He was going to save Henry. They were finally going to be a family, just like he always dreamed they would.

* * *

><p>The sun had started to set, and JJ could barely see two feet in front of her. The room Franklin had put her into was more like a closet, but she was alone. There were no coats, no clutter, no boxes of childhood memories…it was just her. She didn't know how long she had been in there, but she was sure that it hadn't been that long. Franklin hadn't knocked her out since she came willingly, but she knew by the splitting headache she had at the moment he had hit her at some point and she had become disoriented enough to not remember every moment, even though she had been conscious.<p>

_Henry_, she thought. _He has to be here. Franklin said he was taking me to Henry._

The thought of seeing her son alive was all the motivation JJ needed to struggle to her feet. She was wobbly; she was sure she had a mild concussion. The room spun around her at least three times before it finally stopped, but JJ had to lean up against one of the walls in order to catch her balance. Her hands, surprisingly enough, weren't bound in any way, so she fumbled around until she found the doorknob and turned it. The door wasn't locked, and swung open easily away from her into the next room. Even though it was dark outside, the suddenness of the artificial light on her eyes caused JJ to stumble backwards a little bit.

_Easy JJ, take it easy. You don't want to hurt yourself even more than you already are. Just go slowly, one step at a time. Find Henry and get the hell out of here._

No sooner had the thought finished in her mind when she heard loud, heavy footsteps coming down the hallway from her left. She froze for a moment, not knowing what to do. If it was Franklin, she wasn't strong enough to fight him off. He would overpower her with little to no effort, and she would never see Henry again. She crouched back into the closet, closing the door enough that to a wandering eye it would look shut, but still leaving abut a half an inch gap so that she could see who the person was. The footsteps were getting closer, and JJ held her breath as she saw the person's leg breach the corner.

It wasn't Franklin. One look at those beat up Converse sneakers, and JJ's heart soared all the way to heaven. She stumbled out of the closet and wrapped her arms around Spencer's neck, squeezing him so tightly she could hear him struggling to breathe. But she didn't care.

"Are you hurt?" he asked her.

"I'm fine," she said back. "I think I might have a concussion, but other than that I'm okay."

"Where's Henry?"

"I don't know. The last thing I remember before waking up in that closet is stumbling through the front door, being pushed around by Franklin. But he's here somewhere, Spence. I just know he is…"

"Go with Rossi," Spencer said, lowering JJ's arms from his neck and passing her over to their teammate. "I'll find Henry, JJ. Don't worry." JJ leapt towards him and planted a kiss on his lips, and for a moment, her mind forgot where they were. Spencer's touch just did that to her. They were back at her apartment, on her bed, kissing and undressing each other, and it took all the strength she could muster up to pull herself away, thanks in most part to Dave Rossi pulling on her waist.

"Come on JJ," he said to her. "Reid's got it from here."

Spencer rounded the corner, his gun drawn, looking for signs of life. Franklin had to be here somewhere. If he could find where he was keeping Henry, he was sure he would find Franklin there as well, especially since he thought he had JJ locked in a closet downstairs and his "family" was now complete.

The sound of a young child's cries made him stop and listen closer. Yes, he was sure that was what he was hearing. With all the motivation of a father searching for his lost son, Reid pushed forward towards the cries. They were coming from behind a closed door, and if he listened closely enough he could hear the deep voice of an adult man trying to calm the boy down.

"You want to see your mommy again, don't you Henry?" Spencer heard Franklin say. He didn't hear Henry's response, but it didn't take long for Franklin's voice to return. "Well then you need to stop crying, okay? Real men don't cry."

"Cooper Franklin, this is the FBI," Spencer announced himself before pushing open the door and aiming the gun at Franklin's head. He wasn't the most consistent when it came to shooting, but in the heat of the moment he had pretty good accuracy. He was flanked by four NOLA police officers, all aiming their weapons at Franklin as well, so if he missed, he knew one of them would be able to finish the job. But for Henry's sake, and for JJ's, he hoped he didn't miss. "Let him go, Franklin."

Cooper Franklin had Henry in front of him, a large hand forcefully holding on to the boy's shoulder. Reid's heart broke at the sight, because he could see the sheer terror coming off of Henry's face. But he also knew that his Uncle Spencer had come to rescue him, and there was a slight twinkle in his eye.

"I mean it, Franklin! Let Henry go, or I swear to God I'm going to put a bullet between your eyes."

"You have no right to be here, Agent. I'm sharing a father-son bonding moment with Henry before we go down to see his mother. You're interrupting family time."

"Henry is not your son," Reid said. "You killed his father, his real father. His name was Will LaMontagne. He was your friend. Do you remember him, Cooper?"

"Will LaMontagne wasn't my friend. He stopped being my friend the second he stole Jennifer away from me! Ever since then, I vowed to get my revenge, and now I have. The three of us…this is how it was always supposed to be. Will didn't deserve all of this. He shouldn't have been given all of this when he stole it from me!"

"You're wrong, Franklin. JJ was never yours. She never wanted you to begin with. Hell, she didn't even want Will." Spencer threw in a chuckle as he spoke, doing his best to agitate Franklin. If he got angry, he'd get sloppy, and Spencer would have his chance. "You know who she did want? Me. It's always been me. She's told me that two days ago when we were in her bedroom, kissing and telling each other how much we loved the other."

"No! You're lying! She loves me! She told me so!"

"Did she, Cooper? Did she really? Because, last I checked, I was the one she embraced and kissed when I found her in that closet downstairs. Has she really kissed you and told you how much she loves you? Or is it all in your head?"

"Shut up! I know what you're trying to do, Agent. I'm a cop…"

"And a damn good one too, so I hear. But now, all you are is a cop killer. You have Will's blood on your hands, and you'll never be able to wash it off. If you let Henry go, I promise I won't kill you, and you can spend the rest of your life in a jail cell with the guilt of killing one of your best friends hanging over you."

Spencer thought Franklin would loosen his grip on Henry, but the man did completely the opposite. If it was possible, his hold became tighter on the boy, and Spencer saw tears fall from Henry's eyes.

"Don't do this, Franklin," Reid said, taking a step forward. "Think about JJ. Think about how hurt she will be if you take Henry away from her."

"Without them, I have nothing to live for," he said. "I can't lose them."

"They were never yours to begin with." Reid didn't flinch as he heard Rossi's voice suddenly beside him. If anything, he was happy for the support. He knew he wouldn't be able to shoot Franklin, no matter how much hatred he had in his body for him. Rossi was a better marksman anyways, and if the time came for such a thing, Reid felt confident Rossi could shoot at his target without missing. "Just let the boy go. He doesn't belong here, and you know that."

"I-I-I'm sorry," Franklin said, suddenly defeated. "But I…I just can't…"

Suddenly a knife appeared at Henry's throat. Spencer and Rossi both screamed at Franklin to put the knife down. Henry's cries became louder as the sharp edge of the metal barely pierced through his skin. And then, from somewhere behind them, a shot exploded, and Franklin fell to the ground. Spencer turned around and saw JJ behind Rossi, her gun drawn and aimed where Franklin had been standing only seconds before.

While Rossi ran to the now-dead body for Cooper Franklin, Reid dropped his gun and hurried to JJ's side, taking the gun in her hand away from her and wrapping his arms around her. He felt her entire body shaking, and he held on tighter, trying to help stop it. He felt something wrap around his legs, and he let go of JJ long enough to find Henry there, burying his face in his hip. Spencer dropped one of his arms from JJ and used it to pick Henry up.

The three of them stood there together for what only seemed like seconds, but what was probably a few minutes, before being ushered out of the house and towards an ambulance, where JJ and Henry would be checked for injuries.

"Uncle Spencer?" Henry's quiet voice could barely be heard over all the commotion, but he caught Reid's attention by pulling on the fabric of his shirt. "Can we go home now?"

Spencer knelt down to the little boy and took hold of his hands. He looked into the eyes of the young boy, who looked so much like his mother but had the confidence and strength of his father, and immediately felt a paternal instinct that he had never once before felt around him.

"Soon, Henry," he said back. "I promise, we'll go home soon. You, your mom and, if you're okay with it, I'll go with you."

"Mister Cooper told me what happened to Daddy," Henry said, "that he went to heaven to be with God and the angels. Does that mean you're going to be my new dad?"

Spencer wrapped his arms around the little boy and hugged him. "Only if you want me to be, Henry. Only if you want me to be."


End file.
